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Universal and Local Time
One of the greatest problem facing the early colonists on Gaia (and later on other worlds) was the fact that the local calendar was totally different from Earth's. The Gaian day is over thirty four hours long and the local year was just two hundred and seventeen local days long. As a result it would be impossible to maintain synchronisity between Earth and colony worlds. Key dates on Earth such as festivals and holidays (both secular and religious) would "drift" through the Gaian year, as would personal events such as birthdays. The eventual solution was to adopt two chronological systems - Universal Time and the Local Calendar Universal Time The concept of Universal Time (UT, Esperanto - universala tempo) actually predated FTL travel, having been adopted for space stations in Earth orbit, for the Luna colonies and outposts, and for vessels in deep space regions such as out amongst the asteroids or on route to Mars. The original concept was in fact even older, having originated in the 19th century with the adoption of the Greenwich Meridian as the basis of all time zones. For interstellar flights and for colony worlds UT would act as a standard baseline, a set point which all local clocks and calendars could be linked to. Universal Time is based on a year of 365.25 days, each divided into twenty four standard hours of sixty minutes (3'600 seconds per hour), an addition day is added every four years to counter the additional 0.25 days in each year. Most digital watches and clocks can be set to show either local or universal time and the press of a button. Most computers, tablets and data slates can be programmed to automatically add a UT time stamp, usually in brackets, after a local date and/or time has been typed. Local Calendar Examples Gaia As mentioned the Gaian year is much shorter than Earth's, by more than a third overall, although the local day is much longer than Earth's. Midnight, January 1st 0000 (Gaian Time) was declared on the 9th of March 2110, at the moment when Gaia was at aphelion from Ayeseebee for the first time since the first manned landing. The shorter year means that the local calendar has just eight months, each of 27 days, plus one none-calendar day - Founding Day which is a holiday on all of the planets colonies regardless of nationality. The months used on Gaia are - January, February, April, May, July, August, October, and December. Founding Day falls between May and July. Gemini The Local calendar for Gemini in the American Corridor is the closest to Earth's. The local day is just 45 minutes longer than on Earth and the year is 378 days long. As a result it's calendar was one of the easiest to develop with each month except August been given an additional day. The additional three quarters of an hour for each day are added to the clock after midnight. Atlas Atlas in the Old Reach is the opposite of Gemini. The Local day is 27h 31m long and the local year is four hundred and nine days long. To accomodate the additional days an entire new month, Thermidor, was added between July and August. Thermidor is named after the old French Republic Calendar month and has 31 days, all of the other months recieved an extra day except February which recieved two extra days. Background This one is going to give me a headache but it needs sorting out, and frankly the idea of developing a "stardate" system for the VIA-Verse would be an even bigger headache. Basically each world has its own calendar but keeps track of the time and date on Earth for important events. Category:Background